Couple's McWedding marks first for LI At Farmingville McDonald’s, they wore golden rings beneath the golden arches
BY ERIK GERMAN STAFF WRITER
February 15, 2006
When Corey Cutcheon and Doreen Brown got engaged three weeks ago, they found themselves squeezed. The couple had sunk so much cash into their new house in Yaphank that there was little left over for a marriage celebration. And they said it was impossible to book a reception venue as quickly as they wanted.
So thrift and haste gave birth to Long Island's first McWedding.
'We called several places; no one would house us, and it cost a fortune,' Doreen Cutcheon, 34, said of her and her 23-year-old groom's dilemma. 'Corey said to me, 'Why don't we try McDonald's?''
A judge at Port Jefferson Village Hall hitched them legally at 9:30 a.m. yesterday and then the new couple joined their friends, family and well-wishers under the golden arches in a Farmingville McDonald's.
Franchise officials called the McWedding Long Island's first -- on Valentine's Day to boot. 'It's a first and it's pretty exciting' said John Rompollo, who oversees a dozen McDonald's restaurants on the Island. 'Maybe it's the beginning of a trend.'
The Cutcheons' celebration was not the first McWedding reception the world has seen. In August 2002, a thrifty couple in Wales made BBC headlines when guests at their wedding reception devoured 33 McDonald's Happy Meals at a local franchise.
Yesterday, the 50 wedding guests who gathered for fast food on North Ocean Avenue ate 14 cheeseburger value meals, 13 Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, 17 Chicken McNugget meals and four hot fudge sundaes -- all washed down with 44 medium sodas. They topped the meal off with complimentary slices of chocolate Ronald McDonald cake.
The grand total for the feast was just $250.59.
The bride's family had no complaints. 'Our children are in charge of their own weddings and they shouldn't be under the stress of the so-called traditions,' said mother of the bride Lene Brown, 57.
Brown said her own wedding was a modest affair on a rainy October day 34 years ago, in front of a judge in Yonkers.
The celebration drew mixed reactions from the customers there for non-wedding noshing, depending mostly upon the observer's age.
'I'm very shocked,' said Janet Marino, a homemaker from Farmingville. 'McDonald's is for children, and now the adults have become children.'
One onlooker, a wedding catering manager, said she's seen clients spend anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 on their receptions.
'People can't afford Long Island weddings,' said the manager. The 31-year-old Oakdale resident did not want to be identified, saying her business could be adversely affected by her name's appearance in print alongside the McWedding. 'The business is just that competitive,' she said.
But a younger McDonald's patron was all for the fast-food nuptials.
Said Vanessa Vorisek, 16, of Farmingville, as she cleared off her table: 'It's cool, and it's a lot less money than a regular reception.' Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
Summer101
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Re: NWR: Did anyone read this today...
Posted by babybug631
I don't know. I understand if you can't afford to have a 'LI wedding'. I would never resort to having it at McDonald's. I would rather get married at city hall and have a nice dinner with my family than treat 50 people to McDonald's. JMHO
I guess I'm the only one who didn't view any of the above as arguments - people disagreed but in a tactful way. Like I said before, I have yet to attack anyone on this thread and refuse to do so but I am sure as heck going to discuss my feelings when I see fit. That’s what we all do. I do not have anything against anyone on this board at all. I respect the many ladies on here who can have a mature intelligent conversation on here without causing a B*tch fight
i def did not take what you had to say as an attack at all... i dont think like that and i'm not offended--its just how you feel and that's okay.
i agree with you in part, i dont think that it is mcd's fault that people choose to eat there but at the same time i think they should take some responsibility and provide alternatives for people who would like to eat healthy and not have liver failure.
i physically cannot eat the food there. i have friends who try to, as a healthier alternative, eat the yogurt parfaits or salads (which have more sugar in them than a chocolate sundae and as much fat as a big mac!!)... and as per Super Size Me Mcd's DOES say that any regular person can eat their food three times a day as part of a 'healthy' diet... that's the part I have a problem with-- everyone admits that mcd's food is junk EXCEPT Mcd's itself...
and either way, if they chose to have their reception there that's fine too--but if some people say that it's disgusting, great, horrible, wonderful-- whatever... no one should tell them that they are wrong if that is how they feel.
and no one should say that it's not right to say that it is disgusting or ASSUME that the girl who originally wrote that meant that the bride and groom were disgusting b/c we don't know that for sure. but i have no problem saying that the entire fast food industry, obesity epidemic, and resulting health crisis is disgusting and completely preventable.
but again, JMO-- and i'll say what i want but i definitely didn't think that that when you responded to me you were attacking me in any way, just disagreeing which is totally fine... i respect your opinion.
but i think at this time we could let it go lol, as strong as i feel about it--it's been discussed enough haha
smara
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Re: NWR: Did anyone read this today...
Im sorry I dont want to keep this going and its not even related to the post.. I just have a genuine question:
If people want to keep discussing/debate or express their POV why do they have to let it go?
SeptBride70
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Re: NWR: Did anyone read this today...
Posted by smara
Im sorry I dont want to keep this going and its not even related to the post.. I just have a genuine question:
If people want to keep discussing/debate or express their POV why do they have to let it go?
oh no of course not--they don't have to, it's just that so many people keep saying that we should stop 'beating a dead horse' and discussing it over and over again so i felt as though maybe i should try and write how i feel but also try and 'wrap it up' a bit for everyone else who is sick of hearing abou it--so it can rest... but by all means if people want to keep writing things they can, i thought i made that clear but maybe not.
ZuzusPetals
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Re: NWR: Did anyone read this today...
Posted by STBMrsDaniRella
Posted by smara
Im sorry I dont want to keep this going and its not even related to the post.. I just have a genuine question:
If people want to keep discussing/debate or express their POV why do they have to let it go?
oh no of course not--they don't have to, it's just that so many people keep saying that we should stop 'beating a dead horse' and discussing it over and over again so i felt as though maybe i should try and write how i feel but also try and 'wrap it up' a bit for everyone else who is sick of hearing abou it--so it can rest... but by all means if people want to keep writing things they can, i thought i made that clear but maybe not.
I know what you mean but its also hard because when you or someone else posts a rebuttle I or someone else may feel compelled to respond. So after a person posts their response and then says, 'lets drop it' then the person who may still wish to respond feels like they shouldnt do so. But like I said I know where y ou're coming from.
SeptBride70
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Re: NWR: Did anyone read this today...
yeah i understand what you mean.. infact, smara FMed me and told me that she meant what she wrote towards people who kept saying let's not discuss it anymore when some of us were debating back and fourth... so once she told me that i understood--and b/c some people wrote for us to stop i felt compelled to try and end it, i dont know why... but it's true what smara and i talked about, if you don't want to hear it--don't read it and i think that you should be able to go back and fourth as many times as you want and i would never take what you write in a negative way or anything--it's just how you feel and how i feel. i think in the beginning, before everything else was said, i felt bad for the original bride who just wrote 'oh that's disgusting' b/c that's ALL she wrote and a lot of people assumed she meant that the bride and groom from the mcd's wedding were disgusting--which, who knows what she meant but you can't just assume she called them personally disgusting from 'oh that's just disgusting' that was really my point-- and then i went from there on how the food is so terrible. and then it snowballed lol... i think i was able to find the source!! but that was my original point b/c it was kind of unfair to her for us to assume that. thanks for responding!! you can respond as many times as you'd like no matter how much you agree/disagree with everything!
